Reject Edmonds School District bond, levy request

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Over the next few days every household in the Edmonds School District will receive a ballot for an Edmonds School District bond and levy with ballots due by Feb. 11. This $696 million proposal is an unprecedented number that will result in significant increases to your Snohomish County property tax bill that you will receive next month and for every February for years.

We all want to have a strong school district that meet the needs of our students but enough is enough. This Proposition 1 bond request ($600 million) plus Proposition 2 Technology Levy ($96 million) that if passed will make Edmonds and surrounding areas even more unaffordable due to taxes.

This proposal is more than double what Edmonds District voters passed in 2014 even though the district student enrollments have increased at less than 1 percent each year and in 2018 actually decreased. I urge every homeowner in Edmonds, Lynnwood, Woodway, Brier, Mountlake Terrace, and unincorporated Snohomish County to vote no on these two measures when you receive your ballot.

The district must be challenged to resubmit a reasonable proposal that meets critical needs but does not force residents to pay this level of property taxes.

Tom Nicholson

Edmonds